Toy rapid-fire cannon.



No. 653,749. Patented luly l7, I900.

' W. R. MACKAY.

TOY RAPID FIRE CANNON.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets$heat I,

WITNESSES INVENTOR 'u fi fi No. 653,749. Patented July I7, I900.

w. R. MAckAY.

TOY RAPID FIRE CANNON.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1900.) (N Mo -D 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

Nrrn 'TATES P TENT Fries.

WILLIAM R. MACKAY, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

TOY RAPID-FIRE CANNON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,749, dated July 17, 1900.

Application filed April 19, 1900- To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. 'MAcKAY, a

V citizen of the United States, residing at Meriden, county of New Haven, State of Conneetiout, have invented a new and useful Toy Rapid Fire Cannon, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a toy rapid-fire cannon which shall have in diminutive and harmless form the essential peculiarities as regards appearance and mode of operation of military andnaval rapid-fire cannon, the resemblance consisting in the fact that the feed is automatic and that all the operator is required to do to produce the mimic effect of a rapid-fire cannon in use is to turn a crank. IVith the end in view of providing an inexpensive, harmless, and exceedingly-attractive toy of this character I have devised the novel toy rapid-fire cannon which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and using reference characters to designate the several parts.

Figures 1, 3, and 4 are longitudinal sections illustrating different modes in which I have carried my invention into efiect, and Fig. 2 is a plan View corresponding with Fig. 1.

The essential features of my invention are a barrel A, feeding mechanism B, a plunger C, a strong spring D, by which the plunger is forced forward, and a retracting and releasing device which I have designated by E.

Various'styles of toy used.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the cannon is designed to shoot balls of any sortfor example, marblesor a smaller size may shoot dried peas. The feeding mechanism of this form consists of a hopper which I have indicated specifically by 11. The balls are placed in the hopper, which communicates by a passage 12 with the bore 9 of the barrel. In use the balls feed by gravity. The retracting and releasing mechanism in all the forms consists of a wheel having arms or teeth 13, said wheel lying in a recess 14 in the barrel and being carried by a shaft 15, which is journaled in the barrel and is provided at one end with a crank 16 for convenience in operation. In the form illustrated in Fig. l the shaft passes through a transverse slot 17 in ammunition may be Serial No. 13,461, (No modelJ the plunger, and arms 13 lie in a vertical slot 18 in said plunger. Back of the slot 18 the plunger is provided with a suitable crosspiece or abutment 19, which is adapted to be engaged successively by the rounded operative faces of the arms to retract the plunger against the power of the spring. In the position shown in Fig. 1 it will be noted that the plunger is at its extreme retracted position. An instant later the arm which is at the instantillustrated holding back the plum ger through engagement with the abutment will pass upward above the abutment and release it, the spring acting to propel the plunger forward with considerable force the iustant it is released. In all the forms when the shaft is rotated in use the retracting and releasing device alternately retracts the plunger against the power of the spring and then releases it and permits the spring to propel it forward again. 20 denotes a shoulder or stop which may or may not be provided in the barrel to limit the extreme forward movement of the plunger and prevent the abutment from striking the hub of the retracting and releasing wheel.

It will be readily understood from Fig. 1 that when the plunger is propelled forward the full force of the blow is upon the ball that has dropped down by gravity from the hopper and which is thereby expelled from the barrel.

The form illustrated in Fig. 3 dilfers from the form above described in that instead of shooting balls it shoots short rods 21, each of which may be provided at its forward end with an explosive cap 22. These rods feed downward by gravity in a way 23. The plunger in this form is shown as provided with rack-teeth 24, which lie in a groove in the barrel. The arms 13 of the retracting and releasing wheel act as teeth and engage the rack. One or more of the teeth, however, are broken away, leaving a recess 26. The plunger in this form strikes a shoulder 20 with full force and is provided with a forwardly-extending firing-pin 27, which strikes the rear end of a rod in the barrel and propels it forcibly forward and out of the barrel. It will be noted that in the form illustrated in Fig. 1 each rotation of the shaft will cause the cannon to fire three shots. In the form illustrated in Fig. 3 a rotation of the shaft will cause the cannon to fire but one shot. In this form when the shaft is rotated the engagement of the arms or teeth 13 with the rack-teeth carry the plunger back until the recess 26 comes into alinement with the rack-teeth, when the latter are of course released and the plunger propelled forward by the spring.

In the form illustrated in Fig. 4 there is nothing expelled from the barrel of the cannon. sion tape, which is mounted to turn in brackets 29, one only being shown in the drawing. The retracting and releasing wheel in this form is shown as provided with five arms, which are adapted to engage a pin or lug 30, extending from the plunger. The shaft in this form also carries a feed-wheel 31. 32 denotes another feed-wheel mounted on a shaft 33, which alsoextends across the recess 14. The percussion-tape used may be made invarious ways; but ordinarily the fulminate in the form of separate pellets is placed between the layers of the tape. This, however, is not of the essence of my invention. In order to provide for the use of a percussion-tape having pellets of fulminate at intervals, the feedwheel 31 may be provided with a groove (see dotted lines, Fig. 4) which will receive the pellets of fulminate without pressure and without danger of exploding them, the edges of feed-wheel 31-i. e., the walls on opposite sides of the groove-acting to clamp the tape firmly between said feed-wheel and the feedwheel 32. 34 denotes a strong abutment lying transversely to the bore of the barrel and in such position that the tape as it is fed downward by the feed-wheels when the shaft In this form I use a roll '28 of percus- 15 is rotated will pass over the rear face thereof, where the pellets of fulminate will be exploded by the blows of the plunger. The ae-' tion of the plunger is practically the same in this form as in Fig. 1, the retracting and releasing wheel having five arms instead of three, and said arms engaging a pin or lug extending from the plunger instead of lying in a recess in the plunger and engaging an abutment thereon.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. In a toy cannon the combination with a barrel having a bore and a hopper for ammunition having a passage communicating with the bore, of a plunger having a slot 17 and an abutment 19, a shaft passing through said slot, a retractingand releasing wheel carried by said shaft and having arms adapted to engage the abutment and a spring acting to force theplunger forward.

2. In a toy cannon the combination with a barrel having a bore and a recess 14 and a hopper for ammunition havinga passage communicating with the bore, of a plunger having slots 17 and 18 and an abutment 19, a shaft passing through slot 17, a retracting and releasing wheel carried by'said shaft and lying in recess 14 and slot 18 and having arms adapted to engage the abutment and a spring acting to force the plunger forward.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I WILLIAM R. MACKAY.

Witnesses:

E.-S. THOMPSON, GEO. H. YEAMANS. 

